8 March 2016

This Winter Was The Warmest On Record Nationwide

Posted by Dan Satterfield

December-2015-February-2016-US-Divisional-Avg-Temp-Ranks-MapFrom NOAA NCEI:
The December–February average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 36.8°F, 4.6°F above the 20th century average, surpassing the previous record of 36.5°F set in 1999/2000. The exceptionally warm December boosted the contiguous U.S. winter temperature. The February temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 39.5°F, 5.7°F above the 20th century average, ranking as the seventh warmest on record and warmest since 2000.

Preliminary indications are that globally, February was the warmest month ever recorded, passing January, which held the record for only 30 days. It also may have broken the previous record by a record amount. The official data from NOAA and the NASA/UK Met office separate data sets will all be out in the next two weeks. It now looks as if we now only have one degree of global warming left until we pass into what most climate experts now call a danger zone, where unexpected/surprising climate changes are more likely.

ncep_cfsr_t2m_anom_022016